Stranger in the Snow
by xCRODx
Summary: Rumplestiltskin is dead but Belle isn't ready to move on. Following Hook to the land without magic she searches out for her one true love.


The white powder sprinkled down from the sky, blanketing the rows of trees and main road.

She couldn't feel her nose, and her body ached. Water dripped from her face as the snow melted, but she continued to run.

He has to be here, this is where the nurse said he'd be, she thought to herself as she rushed toward the Eiffel Tower.

There was no one she could see, and she worried he had returned or left for good.

She was cold and her resolve waned. Perhaps she should have waited for him at the hospital, she wondered. She was too determined to wait to frightened to lose this opportunity.

She began making her way around the tower, moving as fast as she could, not once glancing at the famous landmark. She wasn't there to sight see.

Only halfway around and a break was finally needed. Feeling both exhaustion and guilt for stopping, she looked up into the sky and marveled at the sheer size of the tower.

She quickly snapped out of it and fought to continue her search.

"And I thought I was the only one out here."

Belle stopped breathing, her mind went blank and her body numb.

A chill ran down her body, but this did not come from the snow.

The man smiled as he waited for her to turn around. "We are certain to catch colds if," he paused for a second before politely asking,

"I'm sorry, do you speak English dearie?"

A FEW DAYS EARLIER

Belle sat at the Library's computer, searching the world news for anything out of the ordinary.

Though she struggled to get the information out of him, Belle got all that she needed from Neal.

She could see the pain in Rumple's son's eyes as he was questioned about the world without pain wasn't from reliving his past, but why he was being asked.

Belle was certain Rumpelstiltskin was alive and well and just had wound up in another land. No one gave her theories any chance and tried their best to help her deal with Rumple's death.

She had seen what they had. Rumple stabbing Peter Pan and himself with the Dark Ones dagger, seemingly sacrificing himself to save the residents of Storybrooke.

Her heart was broken and she was left feeling empty upon her return to Fairy Tale Land. She had no body to grieve over, only the memory of her love disappearing into a golden magic.

So she continued to ask Neal about his old home and how one might get there along with other lands. Belle had tried everything she could to find him there in Fairy Tale Land, and was ready to search anywhere else. She could go for as long as she had to.

Neal and the Charmings had been captured and only the savior could save them, at least that's what Hook thought. Belle thought otherwise and saw it as an opportune time to look for the most powerful person she knew.

Hook had the only way to travel out of this world, thanks to a deal with the Wicked Witch. She was left with no other options.

Not looking to ask for any favors or argue about who to search for in her quest to the land without magic, she snuck aboard the Jolly Roger.

Hook hid his ship the best he could, and once he left Belle went off on her own.

After some help on how to get to the library and how to Google, she sat there for hours scouring the web in search for her one true love.

She finally found what she was looking for in a report out of Paris, France about a man with amnesia. What stood out was the fact that this man appeared out of nowhere with no trace of who he was or where he came from, and only spoke English.

She clicked on the picture thumbnail that was on the website, as tears ran down her face.

Long hair, whitish brown scruffy facial hair and those soft brown eyes. This man was Rumpelstiltskin, there was no mistaking it.

As she turned to see the familiar face, all she could think about was her journey to get there.

After leaving the library in New York, she returned to the Jolly Roger. Seeing how Hook hadn't returned she thought she might just borrow the ship.

"I shouldn't take long, it didn't look too hard to steer," she muttered to herself confidently.

"Plus I do owe him one."

Using contacts Neal had given her, finding her way to Paris, finding the hospital the mysterious man stayed at and after the nurse had said he'd taken off toward the Eiffel Tower, and here they were.

"Yeah, didn't think so, this accent isn't helping matter now is it?"

Belle examined Rumple, who was wearing a think black coat and using a silver four pointed cane, which he probably got from the hospital.

"I speak it, English, I do," she mumbled, still in disbelief.

Rumple, now with a full smile extended his hand to greet her, but Belle could not contain herself any longer and jumped in his arms.

They kissed as the snow showered on top of them. Belle put her hands on his shoulders, never wanting to stop, hoping when he opens his eyes he would be himself again.

"Wow, I should have visited this place a lot sooner," he quips, unsure how to react to the passionate kiss he just exchanged with a total stranger.

His smile vanished when he saw the beautiful woman crying her eyes out.

"I wasn't that bad was I?"

"You're alive"

Rumple now more confused, stared into this strangers eyes hoping to see something familiar.

"I'm sorry, do I know you?"

Belle now struck with the realization of what's at hand.

"No," she cries, "but you will."


End file.
